LENT 1
March 13/14, 2011
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Genesis 2:7-9, 15-17, 3:1-7, 15

“ONE FOR ALL!”
1. One Command.
2. One Enemy.
3. One Sin.
4. One Savior.

Genesis 2:7-9, 15-17, 3:1-7, 15 (NIV) “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

As you can tell from the change of altar cloths, paraments and banners we are in a new season of the Church year. Lent. We have special services on Wednesdays. The focus of the Wednesday services is the Passion of Jesus. The Scriptures we hear, the hymns we sing with their often plaintive melodies help us to have appropriate sorrow over our sin. Plan on being there! The Sundays of Lent are quite different. There actually called “Little Easters” because they show us Jesus triumphing for us. Think of today’s Gospel lesson where the Savior masterfully wielded the Sword of the Spirit to defeat Satan’s temptations. The need for Jesus is what is proclaimed to us in the Old Testament lesson. It shows us several one for alls.
First we find one command for all. “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” If you want to know how highly God values people, visit the Garden of Eden. If you ever doubt how special you are to God, go back to the Beginning. People, both Adam and Eve were created in a special way, formed by God. For people God creates a special garden with all kinds of trees that are pleasing to the eye and good to eat. To people God gave the special job of taking care of the Garden and to people God gave one command. “And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Think of it. God gave Adam and Eve the whole world except for one tree. One command. Do not eat. Why? Love. People need a way to thank the God who treats them so specially. And the most meaningful way to show love to God is obedience to His commands. Willing obedience. God did not create robots. Adam and Even had the ability to never sin, to perfect obey, if they wanted to. One command for all commands.
But there was one enemy of all. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.” Snakes were animals created by the Lord. They are clever and cunning predators. It is fitting then that the enemy of God and His people used a snake when he attacked God’s people. We know who this really is. It’s Satan. The one the Bible tells us was a created angel who led a rebellion against God some time after creation. He was defeated along with the other rebelling angels and punished by being banished from heaven. His goal from that time on has been to cause hurt, pain, evil, sin of all kinds. He is the real enemy of all. Sometimes, especially when there is conflict going on we like to see other people as our enemies. Just look at what’s going on in our state politically. Those same things can happen when there are differences of opinion in our families, in our churches. We need to remember that the one enemy of all doesn’t have skin on. It’s the Devil.
His goal is sin. One sin for all. “He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” There is a pattern for us to note in this familiar account of the fall into sin. Maybe you want to jot it down because you’ll see it again, and again, and again. Here it is. Doubt. Defense. Lie. Sin looks fun! Sin. Consequence. It’s a pattern we all know too well. Doubt. Did God really say? Is it wrong for me to lie in this case? Does it really apply with my circumstances? Defense. The conscience speaks. It’s wrong. God says so. Like Eve did. But the Devil doesn’t give up. He comes back at you with the Lie. You will not die. That’s not wrong. That’s not a big sin. You won’t get caught. Nobody is watching. It’s not hurting anyone. In fact, pattern point four. God’s holding out on you. God doesn’t want you to have any fun. And this sin is fun. Sexual sinning is fun. Underage drinking is fun. Gossiping, tearing others down. That’s fun. And then the sin happens. Eve eats. Adam eats. We lie. We cheat. We are selfish. We are so their children! And then there is consequence. The eyes were opened. Guilt. Separation from God. The same guilt and separation from God that we feel. And the reason we keep falling for this pattern even though we know it so well is that the sin was one for all. You heard about that in the Romans reading. One disobedience to one command prompted by one enemy doomed all people to life of sin in world filled with the consequences of sin and sinning.
What is a God who is love to do? People are His true treasure. God values you. He sends a Savior. One Savior for all. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Living in New Testament times as we do the meaning of the promise is obvious. There are hard feelings, enmity, between those who follow evil and those who believe in Jesus. Jesus is the offspring, the descendant of Eve, who crushed the Devil, refusing every temptation and offering Himself for sinners on the cross. The cross did hurt Him. We think of His anguished cries. And yet by the innocent suffering and death Jesus became the Savior of all. He paid for all sins. And everyone who believes this is saved. One Savior for all.
Now anyone who grew up at a time when you didn’t have 3,421 different television channels to watch remembers the one for all phrase, that it comes from the Three Musketeers. And that it has a partner. One for all, and all for one. What a beautiful way for us to respond to the Gospel message. One for all. One Savior for all of us. Jesus. How about we leave here as all for one. All of us, each one of us dedicated to giving Him glory. He is the only Savior. We will not let fake gods and fake saviors have His place. We will proclaim Him as the only Savior even if the one enemy uses other people to mock us or pressure us. We know what pleases our only Savior. Willing obedience to His commands. As Jesus gave His life for us, may we live our lives for Him. One for all and all for one. Amen.